Yep, an Autumn Sketching Tour would be great - and I think that's the way the organisers are leaning. Otago (in NZ's South Island) is incredibly beautiful at that time of year, so I'd love to go back and paint then. I'll pass on your plug to Vic and Raewyn - and I look forward to seeing you on the Tour!

And the Valaquenta - what a GREAT interpretation AlassŽa Eruvande has written with this! Wow! I only played a small, making a nice visual effect for it with the parchment and font, but I think the piece itself is the real gem. My Tolkien-geekiness was showing through, in that I could easily have re-inserted all the Tolkien names into the text, having read The Silmarillion so many times, even though the last time was quite a few years ago.